End of an Era
by Euphoria994
Summary: When a mysterious figure begins threatening the new world created by the Pokémon Revolution, Mewtwo and the other Legendaries find themselves struggling to understand and fight this new foe. But can they continue to work together, even as doubt and unrest spreads among them? Is this new order really worth fighting for?
1. A Time to Remember

Chapter 1 - A Time to Remember

Kevin kicked idly at the dirt beneath his tattered shoes, feeling both tired and bored out of his mind from having to wake up so early. It was still dark outside, and the cloudy sky overhead didn't help matters. He regretted not saying bye to his mother, and to a certain extent, not making a quick breakfast for himself from whatever he could scrounge from their kitchen. Unfortunately, today was an important one for him, along with every other ten-year-old in his district, and that was why he was out standing by the curb, waiting for his bus to arrive under the gloomy morning sky.

Job assignments were scheduled for today, and reminding himself of that fact caused his fingers to clutch nervously around the worn report that was hanging from the rope around his neck. To think that this little piece of paper would decide his future was frightening, but in a way, it was also kind of relaxing. On one hand, his fate was being decided by Pokemon based solely on what the report said about his abilities, with no regard for what he actually wanted. On the other hand, it was a bit of a relief to know that they wouldn't ask such a thing from him.

He didn't know what he wanted anyway.

The screeching of the buses wheels tore him away from his thoughts, startling him from his dreary thoughts. He watched as an old gray bus pulled up to the curb, the words "Recruiting Lab" displayed on its side in a clashing bright yellow. The door's opened to reveal a burly Machamp bus driver, his eyes looking weary and tired. Kevin simply stared with wide eyed anxiety as the Pokemon squinted over at a list posted on his window.

"You Kevin?" the Machamp asked after a short pause, rubbing his eyes with his free pair of hands, the other pair maintaining a firm grip on the wheel.

It took a few seconds for Kevin to find his voice, eventually managing to squeak out a small "Yes."

The Machamp turned his head to face Kevin, a warm smile gracing his features. "Welcome aboard." he said, a hand motioning for the boy to come in. Kevin stepped onto the bus, feeling rather diminutive next to the muscular powerhouse that was the Machamp. He turned to take a seat before stopping in surprise at the sight of the empty bus, having expected it to be packed.

"Am I the only one on this bus?" asked Kevin, turning to face the Machamp with a confused expression.

"Well, for now." the driver replied. "You're my first stop. That's why we told you to be up and ready before dawn. We still have a long way to go, kid, so you might wanna go ahead and rest up in the back if you're still tired. I'd join you, but you know…someone's gotta drive this thing." he laughed, giving the boy a hard slap on the back. Kevin let out a pained grunt, as the Machamp's hand had felt like a brick on his small frame, but the Machamp was too busy laughing to notice.

Turning to look at the bus seats again, Kevin suddenly noticed a pair of feet extend from behind one of the seats near the back. It looked like whoever was there was lying down, possibly sleeping.

"If I'm your first stop...then who's that?" he said, pointing to the back.

The four-armed Pokemon turned back to Kevin, his expression baffled. He quickly shot his head around to look at where Kevin was pointing. The Machamp's eyes widened briefly for a moment before he sighed with irritation.

"Oh yeah, this one kid stopped me on my way out of the station. Jumped right in front of me! Nearly hit the little bastard. Said he didn't want to miss the recruitment, and then ran to the back before I could even ask him who he was." he said, shaking his head in annoyance. "Dang kids." he muttered, causing Kevin to visibly slump. The Machamp, noticing this, suddenly turned to the boy. "Not you kid, you're alright." the driver reassured, causing Kevin to perk up a bit. Then he lowered his voice. "Just give that idiot over there a quick knock for me, alright?" he said, lightly punching Kevin's arm playfully as he chuckled. Kevin withheld a pained grimace, as it had again been a harder punch than the Machamp realized, but he nonetheless shot a smile towards the driver before trekking towards the back, deciding to take the Machamp's earlier advice.

The buses wheels squealed as it began to move again, causing Kevin to lurch forward as he walked. The boy grabbed a seat for balance, almost falling down before continuing towards the pair of feet hanging from the edge. Finally reaching the back, he took the seat in front of the sleeping figure, then immediately turned to look over at the other kid. The kid in question was slightly bizarre in his appearance, his old black hooded jacket sharply contrasting with the quality of his blue jeans and white sneakers. Kevin found that he could not see the kid's face entirely, as half of it was obscured by the hood, leaving only his mouth visible. He looked towards the shoes again, looking slightly jealous as he wondered where the kid could have gotten them, as his own were falling apart.

"Hey, what's up?" said a cheerful voice, making Kevin jump at the unexpected sound. He looked back at the kid, who had apparently not been sleeping as Kevin had guessed and was now smirking up at him with a sly smile, his eyes still hidden beneath his hood. "So...you excited?"

Kevin grimaced, unnerved by this kid's calm demeanor. "Uh, not really. More nervous if anything."

"Speak for yourself. I, on the other hand, simply can't wait to get there." the kid said, sighing dreamily. "I've been counting the days, and it's finally time!"

""Having our lives decided for us?" Kevin asked, raising an eyebrow. "Yeah, real exciting."

"No." the kid responded, taking in a breath before dreamily sighing with satisfaction. "Having the chance to finally get rid of 'em."

"What?" Kevin said, startled. "Get rid of who?"

There was a pause. Then the kid grinned beneath his hood as he answered.

"The Pokemon Ministry."

Kevin stared wide-eyed down at the kid, who was still laying on the seat as if what he just said wasn't a one-way ticket to the mines. "You…you're g-gonna get rid of…P-Pokemon Ministry?" he said after a moment, trying to convince himself that he had misheard the kid, and that he himself was the one now saying something crazy.

"Yup, I'm going to kill every last one of them." the kid replied, and Kevin could sense the seriousness in what he was saying despite the playful tone. Slowly and quietly, Kevin turned to sit in his seat, his heart beating hard in his chest, resolving not to talk to the kid for the rest of the bus ride.

Unfortunately, it appeared the kid had other plans. "Come on, don't tell me you don't want the same, right Kevin?" he asked, his voice still holding that now insufferable playful tone.

Kevin ignored him, but then his heart skipped a beat when he realized that the kid knew his name. When had he told him?

"Don't you want to get rid of the Pokemon Ministry?" the kid continued.

Kevin said nothing. Maybe this kid would take the hint and be quiet…eventually.

"Don't you want to be able to wake up and not worry about something else being in charge of your life? Don't you wanna take back control from those things?"

Kevin said nothing again, but he frowned at how this kid was talking about Pokemon, referring to them as "things" and threatening them. While he would be hard-pressed to say that he liked the fact that Pokemon controlled everything now, he would never go so far as to say that Pokemon were so bad as to not be living beings with feelings and thoughts of their own. He looked over at the Machamp, a Pokemon who had been much more pleasant to talk to than this human kid, and suddenly felt a small pang of anger.

"That Machamp would probably kill your mother right now if the Ministry asked him to." the kid said, almost as if he had just read Kevin's thoughts. "Don't let a few kind words and gestures make you forget about what his kind have done."

"Shut up." Kevin whispered, finally responding to the kid.

"You need to understand that he and the rest of them had pretty much the same thoughts about us when they took over."

"Shut up!" Kevin said. His hands were now gripping the seat so hard that they were turning white.

"Actually, I wonder how many people he killed during the war. Could be a chance that he was the one that killed your dad."

"I SAID SHUT UP!" Kevin cried.

Instantly, the Machamp slammed his feet on the brakes at Kevin's outburst. The bus's tires screeched, and the sudden stop made Kevin lurch forward in his seat, while the kid was surprisingly unaffected by the change in momentum, remaining in his seat comfortably. Kevin quickly adjusted himself, sitting quietly in an attempt to look as innocent as possible. The Machamp took the keys out of the ignition and got up from the driver's seat, walking towards the two kids. Kevin faced the floor, his heart thumping painfully in his chest as the Machamp's footsteps got louder. A shadow fell over him, and Kevin looked up nervously after a moment, his eyes meeting the sight of their driver's suspicious glare.

"Everything alright back here, Kevin?" the driver asked, his voice deep and blunt. His back pair of arms were hanging loosely over his shoulders, while the other pair was crossed over his chest. "This kid bothering you?"

Kevin struggled to think of a reply, but there was no need, for the kid answered for him from behind.

"Oh, everythings fine back here Mr..." the kid paused. "Mr...Mr…what's your name, again?" he asked, his tone smug. "Or are you that type of Pokemon that feels names are too good for you?"

Kevin's jaw dropped and the Machamp's eyes widened at the kid's words. The Pokemon clenched his hands into fists as he turned to look over at the kid, while Kevin looked down at the floor, preparing for the explosion.

"Name's Jerry, and I wasn't asking you." the newly named Machamp said calmly, taking Kevin by surprise. "Now sit up straight and take off that hood, I wanna get a good look at you." A few seconds ticked by, during which the only sound Kevin could hear was his own nervous breathing.

"Now." the Pokemon growled, causing Kevin to tense up.

There was a loud, exasperated sigh, then Kevin heard shuffling behind him as the kid followed the driver's instructions. He heard Jerry give a grunt of satisfaction.

"You have a report on you?" the Machamp asked the kid.

"Do you have red eyes?" the kid said, his voice dripping with so much sarcasm it actually made Kevin wince.

"You either quit with the lip, or I'll quit it for you." Jerry practically snarled. Silence filled the bus, and Kevin gulped.

The Machamp turned his angry expression towards Kevin, who looked up into the Pokemon's intimidating expression. In the back of his mind, he noted that this Machamp's eyes were a sky blue, not the typical Machamp shade of red as the kid had pointed out.

"Hey Kevin-" he began.

"Ididn'tdoanythingIswear!" Kevin said, his words coming out in a jumbled mess as his fear got the better of him. He looked up into the Pokemon's face, the Machamp looking taken aback at his outburst. Then noticing Kevin's fearful expression, he quickly relaxed his fists and uncrossed his arms, a reassuring look crossing his features.

"I was just gonna ask you if you could keep an eye on this little smart-ass." he asked, jabbing a finger back towards the kid, who remained silent. "You let me know if-" the Machamp paused, his blue eyes glancing back towards the kid.

"Don't give me your looks!" he suddenly roared, making Kevin jump in his seat. "That's my last warning! You do anything again, you're off this bus!"

"Sorry, didn't mean to yell in your ear." The Machamp said, turning back to Kevin, whose ears were still ringing. "Look, I just wanted to tell you, if there's a problem, let me know..." his eyes glanced over to the kid, "and I'll take care of it. Think you can do that for me?"

"Yeah...yeah, I can do that." Kevin said, nodding quickly.

"Thanks, and call me Jerry." said the Machamp warmly, reaching a hand towards Kevin. Kevin instinctively flinched, but then smiled and let out a small giggle as Jerry ruffled his hair. The Machamp smiled, and took a chance to shoot one last warning expression towards the kid while Kevin was distracted.

"Ok…thanks Jerry." Kevin said in a low, yet happy tone.

The Machamp nodded, then turned and made his way back to the driver's seat. As the bus started up again, Kevin relaxed and leaned his head against the window, his eyes suddenly remembering how tired he was as the adrenaline from the last few minutes wore off.

The kid remained silent.

...

"Alright, we're here!" Jerry announced, waking Kevin up from his nap. He looked around groggily, noticing that the bus was now packed with other kids, a few of them also waking up like him. He looked out the window, seeing that the clouds outside hadn't gone away, making Kevin feel like not much time had passed since he had fallen back asleep.

"Make sure you have your reports with you, you don't want to be without it when you go in." Jerry said, causing a few kids to double check their papers. "Form a line outside. Any windows you may have opened, close 'em now."

Everyone stood up and began making their way outside. Kevin yawned and lazily began following the line of kids exiting the bus, which took awhile as he was way in the back, when he was startled by the sound of a window shutting behind him. Turning around, he saw that no one was there. He was about to shrug his shoulders and forget about it when suddenly he realized something…the kid from earlier wasn't there. He stood there confused for a minute, simply staring at the backseat where that kid had been, until he looked out and saw the line of kids forming outside, along with a couple other Pokemon. He turned back around and quickly rushed out to join them, slowing down as he passed Jerry.

"Bye Jerry." Kevin said, stepping off the bus. "And uh, thanks for earlier."

Jerry looked up confusedly, as if not recognizing him, but quickly perked up and smiled back at him. "Oh yeah, have a good rest of the day kid."

Suddenly, his smile gave way to a frown.

"Uh...kid? Where's your report?" Jerry asked. It took Kevin a moment to realize the Pokemon was addressing him, and he looked back at the Pokemon confusedly.

"What do you mean? It's right here." Kevin answered, reaching for the report hanging around his neck...or rather, that had been hanging around his neck. The ten-year-old's eyes widened as his hands met nothing but shirt, and he rushed back onto the bus, hoping that maybe it was somewhere back where he had been sitting.

"You see it back there?" Jerry asked, after a few minutes of watching Kevin fruitlessly search for his report. He signaled for the waiting Swampert outside to go ahead and take the other kids in.

"No…" Kevin answered back hesistantly. He turned to face Jerry, looking both embarrassed and a little scared. "No, I don't see it anywhere back here."

Jerry looked out at the building, it's doors now closed. He let out a sigh as he turned to look out at the street ahead, starting up the bus again. "Well kid, you better head inside. You'll only make them even more upset if you're..." the Pokemon said, but then he stopped at what he saw in his rear view mirror. Kevin shaking quite visibly in the back, head faced slightly downwards, his eyes red with held back tears, although every second that ticked by showed his efforts becoming increasingly futile.

"Kid…you alright?" the Machamp asked, his voice sounding strangely soft and comforting. Kevin let out a loud sniff and shook his head, wiping his face with his sleeve.

"Hey…kid…it's just a report." Jerry said, turning to face the boy in his seat, a look of worry now crossing his features. "What are you getting so upset about?"

"It's not just a…I-I don't…my mom…the m-mines…dad…" Kevin said, his words punctuated by numerous choked sobs and sniffs as he headed further and further into a nervous breakdown. Jerry eyes widened, and he looked towards the building again, then back towards Kevin. After a few seconds, he turned off the bus, and unbuckled his seat belt. Taking a breath, he got up and began walking towards Kevin, who watched nervously as the Pokemon approached him, his expression unreadable. Jerry stopped right in front of Kevin, who looked down and closed his eyes, not sure what to expect, although he knew it was probably nothing good.

So it came as a bit of a shock to Kevin when Jerry placed a large, heavy hand on the ten-year-old's shoulder, and lifted the boy's chin up with another, until Kevin was looking up into the Machamp's reassuring expression.

"Kevin, it's alright. Relax." the Machamp said, his voice sounding warm and fatherly. "I'll take you home, and you'll be rescheduled for another day. Alright?" Kevin saw the genuine concern in the Machamp's eyes, and smiled as Jerry ruffled his hair again with a third hand.

"Feel better?" Jerry asked, his hands on Kevin's shoulders.

"Yeah….yeah I do." Kevin said, nodding as his sniffles and red eyes slowly began to clear up.

"Alright…have a seat while I turn this bus around." Jerry said, heading back towards the driver's seat. Kevin followed behind him, taking the frontmost seat nearest Jerry. The Machamp started up the bus, and as it pulled away, Kevin watched the Ministry building head farther away, until they turned a corner and it fell out of sight. A large weight in his chest fell away, and he let out a heavy breath.

"George?" Jerry said out loud all of a sudden. Kevin looked up to see who he was talking to, looking confused for a second before noticing a large receiver in the Machamp's hands. "Hey, George, my engine's breaking down." Loud, unintelligible static filled the room, and while Kevin knew that there was someone else talking on the other end, he wondered how Jerry managed to make sense of it. "Been fighting with it for awhile now…" Jerry replied, apparently answering a question, "…but it's about on it's last legs. Gonna go ahead and bring it back into the station for maintenance." More noise escaped the receiver. "Alright, yeah, that'll work. I'll have it taken care of by tomorrow." Jerry said before hanging up.

Both human and Pokemon sat quietly for a few moments, the ambient sounds of the bus filling the air lessening the awkwardness somewhat. "Hey, um, Jerry?" Kevin asked, trying to break the silence.

"Yeah?"

Kevin opened his mouth to ask the Pokemon something, but found the words getting stuck in his throat for some reason. He looked up into the rearview mirror, and saw the Machamp's wide blue eyes focusing on him. Closing his mouth, he looked down at the floor, feeling miserable.

"Relax Kevin."Jerry said. Then, seeing that Kevin still looked rather down, continued. "That was George, a friend of mine. He's gonna take over for me with picking up the kids when the Ministry's done with 'em. The engine problems…well, let's just pretend that I was outside fighting with it for an hour, ok? Oh, and uh, if it makes it any easier, go ahead and imagine me cursing like a sailor the entire time...cause I would have been."

Kevin let out a snort. Jerry smirked.

...

The rest of the drive went along smoothly, with no words being said as Jerry drove the bus through town. Kevin watched out the window, seeing the run down buildings and empty sidewalks of his neighborhood give way to a much more lively part filled with trees that had freshly-grown leaves on their branches.

Kevin stared in awe as the sight of small, broken down human houses slowly give way to the huge, imposing buildings within the Pokemon districts. He could see all types of Pokemon on the sidewalks, some carrying little bags full of currency for shopping and some of the younger ones wearing backpacks as they went off to school.

A loud blow of a whistle was heard, and Kevin was greeted to the funny sight of a Mankey in the middle of a street, wearing a police cap, and holding said whistle in his mouth. The Pokemon held his hands up to Jerry, who complied with his order to stop. After a Gardevoir and her Kirlia made it across the street, he motioned for Jerry to proceed, which the Machamp did.

As the bus slowly passed by the Mankey, Kevin took the opportunity to wave at the police pokemon innocently. The Mankey smiled at the sight and waved back, only to do a double-take. He stared at the smiling human, the stop whistle falling out of his mouth as he gaped. An action the Mankey regretted almost instantly, as the screeching of tires in the street snapped him out of his shock. A loud crash followed a couple seconds later.

"What was that?" Jerry called over his shoulder, keeping his eyes on the street.

"Nothing." answered Kevin quickly, sinking low into his seat, hoping that he wouldn't be seen in the window by other Pokemon.

The Machamp glanced at his rear-view mirror, frowning at how nervous the human was. Then he turned his gaze away from Kevin, and his confusion grew at the sight of the accident behind him, which had both a Zangoose and a Weavile getting out and throwing down, while the Mankey had somehow put himself in the middle of the fight, resulting in a tumbled heap of flailing arms and loud cursing.

Kevin would be eternally grateful that the Machamp would never connect that accident to him. He didn't know what the bus driver would think of him if he realized that his very presence in this city had already caused an accident to occur.

Then a thought popped into Kevin's head; just what did Jerry think of him? So far, the only thing the bus driver knew was that he was a human and that his report had been missing when they finally got to the recruitment building. So what was it that made Jerry want to help a kid like him?

The question permeated throughout Kevin's mind, while his body tensed itself in its seat, his legs pulling themselves up as his arms wrapped around them.

Jerry whistled a little tune as they turned a corner.

...

The bus tires squealed as the Machamp pulled it up into a parking lot.

"Ok Kev, we're getting off here." called Jerry, taking the keys out of the bus and getting out of his seat. He stood and waited for Kevin to meet him at the bus entrance, but to his surprise, the boy was nowhere to be seen.

"Kevin?" he called out, walking over to where he had last seen the boy sitting. As he expected, Kevin was still there, but what he didn't expect was to see the human breaking out in a cold sweat, nervously shuffling his hands together as his arms were wrapped around his knees.

"Whoa Kev! What's wrong with you? What's going on?" Jerry asked, concerned about why the boy looked as though he was ready to have a panic attack. He bent down on his knees and brought an arm down on the ten-year-old's shoulder. Kevin jerked when the Machamp touched him, then turned his head to look at Jerry, as if he had been jerked out of his thoughts.

"Jerry..." Kevin began quietly, his eyes not meeting the Machamp's. "...why are you helping me?"

The bus driver was taken aback, not expecting such a question to come from the human. He opened his mouth to answer, then paused and closed it again, sighing heavily in the process. He dropped his hand from the boy's shoulder, his gaze going down to the floor as the question weighed down on him heavily.

"You know Kevin..." Jerry replied simply, his stare towards the boy becoming solemn. "I...really don't know."

The boy visibly slumped in his chair at the answer. "Is it because I'm a-"

"But what I do know..." Jerry interrupted, "...is that it has nothing to do with what species we are." His hand went back to grasp the boy's shoulder firmly, shaking it a bit at the end of his sentence as if to punctuate. A small smile appeared on Jerry's face as he continued. "I saw you were in trouble. Whether you were human or not, I had to do what was right, and from what I've seen of you so far, you're a kid worth helping."

The back of Kevin's hand wiped the tears he realized had been running down his cheeks, a small smile appearing on his face at the Machamp's words.

...

"Jerry..." Kevin said nervously, pushing his body against the Machamp's arm, almost as if that would help him fade from sight from all the confused, surprised, and even disgusted looks being cast toward him. While he certainly didn't know much about Jerry yet, the latter had yet to complain about his clingy nature. The two were walking down the busy streets of the city, where Pokemon of all kinds were continuing with their daily business.

Now this normally wouldn't have mattered to Jerry, as he was used to spending most of his free time downtown, but the biggest difference here was that he wasn't alone. And in hindsight, bringing a human child to an area filled with nothing but Pokemon probably wasn't the best idea. Not that it wasn't a bad one, but this led to the awkward situation of Kevin being the only visible human within the district, a fact that was made more obvious by the wide girth most Pokemon were giving him, as well as the stares they were receiving.

"Is that a human?!" a voice squealed, and both Jerry and Kevin turned to see an Eevee and a Totodile looking up at the boy. Both of them were wearing custom-made backpacks, and the Eevee was wearing a sports cap.

"Uh...hi." Kevin said nervously, waving a hand at the two. Both of the tiny Pokemon stepped back, their mouths falling open in shock.

""Whoa...it can talk!" the Eevee yelled rather loudly, causing Kevin to blush as a few chuckles were heard from the crowd around them.

"See, I told you!" the Totodile said, and both Pokemon ran off towards a large group of Pokemon children across the street, pointing excitedly over at Kevin. The boy looked down towards the ground, not knowing what to think.

"Stay close Kev, we're almost there." he mumbled loud enough for the ten-year-old to hear, a little silly since the boy was already as close as he could get. Nonetheless, Kevin smiled a little at the Machamp's reassuring words...only to have it wiped off his face as a Serperior suddenly hissed at the two, feeling that Kevin had come way too close for comfort.

"Don't touch my scales!" yelled the serpent in a pompous, feminine voice. "I just got them polished today, and I don't need someone using their grubby, disgusting hands to-"

Jerry instantly swerved his head around, firmly pushing Kevin behind him as he faced the snake's slitted glare with one of his own. The Serperior flinched a bit at the unexpected change of scared human child to angry Pokemon.

"I believe you were saying something to me?" Jerry growled, curling a lip in anger while his front arms clenched themselves into fists.

The Serperior seemed to regain a bit of her composure as the shock of the moment wore off, and returned her glare towards the Machamp. She raised herself up to her full height, which was about up to Jerry's chest as the rest of her was needed to balance herself.

"As a matter of fact, I do!" she hissed, giving Kevin a disgusted look. "That...that human you have with you nearly touched me!" The tail tip of the Serperior raised up and pointed accusingly at the ten-year-old, who attempted to hide himself further from the accusatory glare.

"I'm sorry." whispered Kevin, looking down at his feet. He could feel the onrush of tears beginning to build up in his eyes.

"Hey! I was talking to you!" Jerry boomed, as if the snake Pokemon had not even called attention to the boy behind him.

"Were you even listening?! I said that there's a-"

The Serperior cut herself off when the Machamp suddenly thrust himself forward in a battle stance, towering over her and clenching his fists so hard that the veins in his muscles stood out. The snake's expression went from angry to terrified in a second. Sweat began running down her face, and considering that snakes didn't have sweat glands, that was saying something.

"Do you have a problem with me?" Jerry said, his voice barely recognizable beneath the loud growl rumbling within his chest. A few Pokemon stopped to watch the scene, not knowing which was more interesting; the beginnings of a battle or the fact that the Machamp had a human with him that he was apparently protecting.

The Serperior gulped once, then lowered her head to the ground in submission. "N-N-No?"she said hopefully, nearly ready to curl in upon herself in fear.

"Then we have nothing else to talk about." Jerry snapped, before relaxing his body down and stretching his arms. "Although, I believe you owe someone an apology." Jerry said next, reaching behind him and gently pushing a surprised Kevin towards the snake. The boy shuffled awkwardly in his position, not liking the attention from all the Pokemon that had gathered around them.

The Serperior gave a look of defiance, and opened her mouth to complain, but a stern glance from the Machamp quickly shot her down. She looked at Kevin, who stared back at her, his nervous expression mirroring her own.

"I-I apologize, h-h-human." she said quickly, the last word coming out like a bad taste in her mouth.

Jerry nodded in satisfaction, then turned away, almost like the whole thing had been nothing more than a distraction. "Come on Kevin, we're almost there."

Kevin stepped over to Jerry's side, smiling up at the Machamp. The Pokemon that had gathered around to watch began to disperse, some sighing with relief, while others whined in disappointment. Jerry and Kevin began walking away, but Kevin looked over his shoulder to check the Serperior. The snake had remained where Jerry had left her, and if Kevin looked close enough, he thought he could see her bottom lip quivering.

...

"We're here!" Jerry called enthusiastically, though it was mostly unneeded as Kevin had been less than a foot away behind him. Kevin raised his head, eyes widening in excitement at the sign in front of the store; a giant ice cream cone with a big scoop halfway in it.

"An ice-cream shop?!" Kevin asked, turning to smile at Jerry, who grinned back at him.

"Yup. One of the best places to go after a hard day at work." Jerry responded, crossing a pair of arms in thought. "Used to come here a lot more when I was younger."

He reached out and pulled the door open, a little jingling of bells sounding as they entered. Kevin looked around in excitement, the bright and colorful atmosphere lifting his mood immensely. Running up to the glass separating him from the ice cream, Kevin's nose pressed right up into it, every excited breath he took fogging up the glass.

"It all looks so good!" the boy said eagerly, looking back at Jerry, who smiled back. He turned his head again to look back at all the delectable flavors of ice cream...

...and was instead met with a giant pair of bright, blue eyes staring back at him from the bucket of vanilla ice cream.

"Hey Vanillish." Jerry said. Then he jumped as Kevin let out a scream.

...

It took Jerry several minutes to calm Kevin down from the scare the Vanillish had given him. The ice cream Pokemon had been surprisingly respectful to the boy, and even apologized for the whole thing. Heck, he even offered Kevin an ice cream on the house, which the boy delightfully accepted. It probably helped that both Jerry and the Vanillish knew one another closely, as Jerry came here all the time.

"Get one scoop of chocolate, Tim!" the Vanillish called out.

"Slow?" said the Slowpoke standing behind the counter, apparently the ice cream Pokemon's assistant. Kevin and Jerry both shot glances at one another, giving small little smirks at the sight of a Slowpoke attempting to scoop the ice cream.

"So, Vanillish, gotten a name you like yet?" Jerry asked, while Kevin watched Tim slowly grab a scoop of ice cream.

"Nah, I don't need no stinken name. It's not like there any more of my kind around for others to-" Vanillish replied, but then stopped as he turned to look over at his assistant. "Tim! Stop!" Vanillish cried, for the Slowpoke had lifted the scoop towards his mouth.

"Slooooow..." the Slowpoke said sadly, half-heartedly dumping the chocolate ice cream onto the cone in his other hand. He seemed to struggle with himself as he handed Kevin the cone, but eventually he relented. Almost instantly after getting the cone, Kevin put it to his lips and took a big bite before Jerry even had a chance to stop him. For a split-second, a look of contentment passed over Kevin's face, only for it to quickly be replaced by one of unexpected shock. The boy nearly doubled-over as the cold feeling of brain-freeze made its way to his head.

"Oh m-m-man!" Kevin said through chattering teeth, holding a hand to his chest as nearly the entire top of the ice cream he had just swallowed slowly went down his throat. His body shuddered from how cold it was, while Jerry patted his back and chuckled, amused.

"Why the heck did you eat all that ice cream in one go, Kev?" Jerry laughed. "Haven't you ever had ice cream before?"

Kevin's face became one of deep thought, although he would wince occasionally from the uncomfortable cold. "I actually don't remember, although I do think it was sometime before that Nidoking went nuts and started the revolution."

The second those words left Kevin's mouth, he instantly regretted them. The boy's eyes widened as the realization of what he just said crashed into him as hard as the expressions on each of the Pokemon's faces. Jerry, the Vanillish, and even Tim the Slowpoke (who had been in the middle of eating from the scoop of chocolate ice cream he had gotten) were looking at Kevin as though he had slapped them. Although considering the fact he had just called their revered leader crazy, he might as well have.

Jerry rubbed the back of his head uneasily. "Kevin, it's alri-"

"HOW DARE YOU HUMAN?!" Vanillish shouted, its normally innocent eyes now filled with rage. Jerry and Kevin both jumped at the ice cream Pokemon's sudden scream, while Tim fell off the counter at his partner's outburst, bringing the whole tub of chocolate ice cream down on top of him. "You dare insult our liberator?!"

Kevin's stood there trembling, unsure of what to say or do. Jerry looked over at his friend in disbelief. Vanillish didn't seem to care or notice, instead floating over the counter and giving the boy the iciest glare he could muster.

"You humans are all the same! Always thinking of yourselves rather than the poor Pokemon you used to capture in those dreaded Pokeballs!"

Kevin's lips trembled a bit. "I didn't mean to say that..."

Vanillish scoffed. "Yeah right. I bet you're just disappointed that our Revolution occurred before you had the chance to become one of those...trainers." The floating ice cream cone spat out the last word like it was a curse, and from the way Kevin flinched, it might as well have been.

"I didn't mean to-"

"GET OUT OF MY STORE!" Vanillish screamed in pure fury. Kevin's lip quivered, tears beginning to build at the corners of his eyes.

Jerry, who had been watching this whole exchange silently, recovered when he saw how hurt Kevin looked. "Kevin, you don't have to-" he began.

But before he could finish, the boy dashed out of the store with a speed that could rival that of a Blaziken, dropping the soggy, uneaten ice-cream cone on the floor. Loud sobs were audible as Kevin burst through the entrance door and ran off, disappearing from sight.

Jerry stood there for a moment, eyes wide and hand outstretched in a vain effort to stop the boy. He stared at the door, watching as it slowly closed. A small ringing was heard as the little bell on the doorframe used to signify arriving customers was rung.

"Slowpo?" Tim said confusedly, having just now freed himself from the overturned bucket of chocolate ice cream. Vanillish, who'd been glaring at the door, turned away with an audible *hmph!* and went to go survey the mess of half-melted ice cream all over the floor.

"Slowpoke, clean up this mess!" he yelled, clearly still in a bad mood. The pink sloth flinched at bit at his boss's angry tone, ceasing his licking of the chocolate on his arms, and instead trudged miserably over to the kitchen to gather cleaning implements.

"I gotta go in the back to let off some steam, Jerry. Go ahead and help yourself to whatever you like."

Silence.

"Jerry?"

Vanillish's eyes creased together as he frowned. Turning in mid-air, he looked to see what had become of the Machamp.

The last thing he saw was a fist flying towards his face.

...

Slowpoke came back from the kitchen holding some towels and a jug of cleaner in his paws. While he was sad that he didn't get to eat any of the ice cream, he was also sad that the human boy that had been in the store a moment ago had left.

Personally, Slowpoke liked humans, and with his latent psychic abilities, he could tell that the boy in particular had an aura of innocence and kindness surrounding his form, unlike most humans he'd seen these days. Whenever he happened to cross by the human towns, it always made him shudder to feel so much sadness, resentment, and despair permeating the area.

His ears drooped low as he thought about the Revolution. It had been an entire seven years since the whole thing had started, and yet there still lingered the feeling of a forced truce between humans and Pokemon. He understood that Emperor Mewtwo, Lord Kachu, and Lord Kat were trying their best, but all they were really doing was keeping up the illusion of peace and order. He wasn't too smart, he would admit, but even he couldn't be so easily fooled.

Now here he was, working as an ice cream vendor, a job that wasn't altogether unpleasant, but with his boss Vanillish in charge, it limited how much he could actually eat. And considering it was ice cream, it just made it hard. Although he still had much easier than most humans these days.

Walking up to the knocked over tub of ice cream, he froze at the sight of a particularly large and familiar cone of ice cream tipped over on the ground. It was vanilla, and Tim knew that he had only spilled a bucket of chocolate, so where had the vanilla come from? Tim quickly found the answer to his question as the ice cream suddenly let out a groan, and the cone lifted itself off the floor for a moment, revealing the badly smashed face of Vanillish. A large fist shaped mark was clear on his face, although Tim only managed to see it for a second before Vanillish passed out onto the ground.

Tim dropped the cleaning supplies to the floor, and walked over to the unconscious ice-cream Pokemon. Picking up the cone, he carried his boss over towards one of the empty buckets in the freezer. He shoved the Vanillish inside without a word, and closed a lid over it tightly. Then he smiled as he turned to look at the ice cream in the shop greedily.

It would be a shame to let it all go to waste.

**Disclaimer: This is a sequel to _A New Era_, a fantastic story written by Organ Man. Permission was given by the author to write this. Reviews are welcome and appreciated.**


	2. The Start of Something New

Chapter 2 - The Start of Something New

Jerry walked briskly down the sidewalk, his hands still shaking with anger from what had occurred only moments ago. The Machamp couldn't remember the last time he had been so angry, or even when he had attacked another Pokemon. His hand was still cold from having sucker punched his former friend, but that hardly bothered him. All he was worried about now was finding Kevin before the latter got into trouble.

But worry was quickly overtaking anger as time passed and he still had yet to see any sign of the boy anywhere. He had thought that Kevin wouldn't have gone far, but then, he hadn't paid much attention to which way the boy had went when he ran out of the store; Jerry kicked himself for having let his anger distract him. He reached the intersection at the end of the block, looking down all four streets for a sign of Kevin, but there was none. The empty streets only served to heighten Machamp's concern, and he quickly looked around for anyone who could have seen the young human. A Pidgeot nestled atop a street light was the only other Pokemon he could see. It was preening itself, so Jerry walked until he was standing under it and cleared his throat.

"Hey!" he called out, catching the bird pokemon's attention, it's fierce glare staring down at the Machamp. "Have you seen a human kid go by at all?"

For a moment, the Pidgeot simply stared down at the Machamp, it's angry expression making the latter think that he was probably wasting his time. But then, a gentle motherly voice came from the bird, taking Jerry by surprise.

"Yes, I have seen him." she said. Jerry's heart leapt.

"Did you see where he went?" he asked.

"Well, yes, but-" the Pidgeot said, pausing to eye Jerry warily.

"What?" the Machamp asked.

"If you don't mind my asking, why are you looking for him?" she asked. Seeing the rather puzzled look on Jerry's face in response to her question, she continued. "I'm only asking because I've heard of what some pokemon think of humans in this part of town. This isn't really the safest place for him if you know what I mean."

Jerry suddenly felt nothing but dread, and he mentally kicked himself again. This part of town was rather isolated from humans most of the time, and if the Seviper from earlier and even his ex-friend could attest, prejudice both hidden and clear did seem to run rampant. "No, no, I understand. I just-I want to find him before he gets into trouble, that's all." Jerry explained. The Pidgeot continued to stared at him, still unconvinced.

"Look, I'm not one of those Pokemon alright? Kid is only here because I brought him in the first place." Jerry said, inwardly regretting his decision. "Now are you gonna tell me where he went or not?"

The Pidgeot eyed Jerry for another moment. Then she pointed a wing down the street. "He went that way." she said. "I would help you, but-"

"Who are you talking to mom?" a smaller voice said, and a young Pidgey peeked out from underneath the Pidgeot's wing.

"Just speaking to a fellow parent." the Pidgeot answered warmly. She turned back towards Jerry, but the Machamp had already left down the street, leaving her to wish him luck.

...

Jerry was thankful that the Pidgeot had at least pointed him in the right direction, but it still didn't help the fact that despite the mostly empty streets, there was no sign of the boy anywhere. Jerry had already run quite a few blocks down, and had no clue if Kevin might have gone down a different direction some time before. He stopped running, panting in exhaustion and wiping the sweat from his brow. He hadn't thought that he had been this-

"Out of shape?" a voice said from behind Jerry. The Machamp jumped in surprise, then let out a grunt of annoyance; he wasn't in the mood to be dealing with this.

"Listen buddy, I don't need your-" he said, turning around to see who had spoken, but then he stopped when he laid eyes on a strangely familiar face. A human kid stood there, his blond mid-length hair brushed neatly over his soft blue eyes. The kid had a welcoming smile, although his eyes were studying the Machamp closely. He wore a white jacket with pink sleeves, which had a couple front pockets that he held his hands inside. Along with his blue jeans and white sneakers, the kid looked fairly well presented.

"Wait a sec...you're that smart ass from the bus." Jerry said, finally recognizing him.

The kid's eyes widened. "Oh yeah, you're that bus driver from earlier. How's it going?" he asked rather casually.

Jerry eyed the kid suspiciously, as there was something different about him this time around. He couldn't be certain, but the kid looked a little bit older, and even seemed taller from when they had last met. It was like the kid had had a growth spurt of five years.

Jerry rubbed his eyes, then scowled. "What do you think you're doing here? This place is dangerous, and I have to find this other kid before he gets into trouble." he said, going back to looking around for Kevin.

The teen frowned. "Well, I did just see a kid being dragged by a group of Pokemon a few minutes ago." he said.

Jerry froze, then turned and focused his widened eyes on the human. "What do you mean dragged? And where?!" The Machamp reached his two main hands on the teen's shoulders and gripped them hard, desperation clearly evident.

The teen grimaced, glancing at the muscular arms that were holding him. "I'll tell you where if you'd like, but first, I'm gonna need to ask a favor."

"Fine! Whatever! Just tell me where he is!" Jerry exclaimed in frustration, giving the teen a violent shake.

All of a sudden, the kid recovered and set a piercing glare on the Machamp. He reached up and threw Jerry's hands off of him with surprising strength, even causing the larger Pokemon to stumble a little.

"Don't. Ever. Put your hands on me. Again." the kid said coolly, brushing his shoulders.

Jerry stared at the young human, shocked that the kid had managed to throw him off so easily. But in any case, he figured that it had been rather rude of him to grab the smaller human like that, so he quickly recovered.

"Sorry." Jerry said, rubbing the back of his head uneasily.

The teen smiled. "Now, as for the other kid, I saw him heading this way when a group of Pokemon suddenly grabbed him and took him down that alley over there." he said, nodding his head over towards said alley, which lay between two buildings further down the street.

"What?!" Jerry exclaimed. "Why?"

The teen dropped his smile and raised an eyebrow. "Why do you think? There's not very many people around here, but I'm pretty sure the Pokemon who took Kevin were just looking to show him a good time, you know?"

Jerry growled in frustration. "You've got to be kidding me...and you didn't help him?!" he nearly yelled.

"Oh man, you're right!" the kid said with dripping sarcasm. "I should have gone with them, that way they could've beat the crap out of me as well. I wasn't thinking." He rolled his eyes and gave Jerry a deadpanned look, meeting the Machamp's angry expression. But the Pokemon wasn't angry at the kid...

"How many were there?" Jerry asked, already starting to feel adrenaline pump through him as he clenched his hands into fists.

"About 4 or 5 of them." the kid said bluntly. "Didn't really bother to see what kind they were, I didn't have time to use my Pokédex."

Jerry paused for a moment at the latter's words. Pokédex's were a collector's item nowadays, at least in this city, and he was pretty sure that it was illegal for humans to own them. "How did you..." Jerry began, but then he stopped himself, remembering that Kevin was currently in trouble. "...never mind."

"Well, are you gonna just stand here all day?" the kid asked. "I think he might need help pretty soon."

Jerry nodded, then turned and began walking quickly towards the alley.

"You're welcome." the kid said behind him. One of Jerry's back hands raised up in acknowledgment. The human smirked.

...

Jerry paused for a moment at the entrance to the alley. There was no human or Pokemon to be seen, but it appeared to split off at the end. He walked through slowly, doing his best to avoid any of the trash and puddles of water that lay scattered around the alleyway. He exclaimed when he accidentally stepped on a broken glass bottle, then kicked it aside in anger, where it shattered against the wall and spread even more shards of glass across the floor in front of him. He sighed in resignation, and walked across the glass, ignoring what little pain he felt. For a moment, the Machamp wished he wore shoes as he inspected his foot for injury at the end of it. Then, all of a sudden, a small cry of pain echoed from the walls. "Yeah, hit him again!" a voice said soon after.

Jerry gasped and took off towards the source of the sounds. He slipping on a bit of water in his haste, but caught himself and continued down the length of the passage, rounding the corner. What he saw made him stop in his tracks.

A Gengar, a Scyther, a Makuhita, and a Breloom were standing over Kevin, who was hunched over on his knees, his eyes shut tight and tears streaming down his cheeks. All four pokemon looked up at Jerry, with varying reactions. The Gengar's wide grin faltered a bit when it noticed the Machamp, but it quickly recovered and went back to smiling devilishly. A far cry from how the rest of the Pokemon reacted.

"Buzz off!" The Scyther warned, raising an arm blade threateningly. "This is none of your business, big guy."

"Yeah!" The Makuhita said, although he backed away a bit to be behind the green insect.

"Guys, maybe we should go." the Breloom whispered, clearly looking intimidated at the sight of the Machamp.

"You guys, relax." the Gengar finally said, making the other three turn to look at him. Instantly, Jerry knew that he was the ringleader of this little group. "So, big guy, what're you here for?" he asked, that grin of his looking dangerous. The other three turned back towards the Machamp, waiting for an answer.

Jerry forced himself to remain calm, even though every single part of him wanted nothing more than to choke the life out of every single one of these animals (although that would be impossible for the Gengar, who technically wasn't alive and didn't need to breathe). He looked down at Kevin, who had his hands clutched around his stomach in pain. Still, he wanted to avoid starting a fight...at least, until Kevin was safely out of harm's way.

"I heard a noise back here, thought I'd come check it out." Jerry said, taking a step towards them. Kevin's head whipped up at the familiar voice, and he gasped in surprise. Jerry hoped the boy would remain quiet for what he was planning. "What are you four doing here? Who's the kid?" Jerry said, his front arms crossing across his chest. The Scyther opened his mouth to answer, clearly intending to tell the Machamp to leave again, but the Gengar raised a hand to quiet him, and floated down towards Kevin, who backed away in fear from the ghost Pokemon until his back was against the wall.

"Nothing much. Just found this human here wandering around, thought we'd take him over here and...talk." the Gengar said, giggling at his last word as he stroked the boy's chin, who tried to bat it away, but his arm phased through the ghost. The Scyther and the Makuhita looked at each other with relieved expression's, glad that the Machamp hadn't immediately come to the kid's defense. The Breloom on the other hand, looked over at Kevin with a sympathetic expression, looking slightly guilty.

Jerry took another step forward. "Talk about what?" he asked.

"Oh, you know, just stupid stuff like whether or not a human is as...durable as us Pokemon." the Gengar said. Then his tongue suddenly stretched out and licked across Kevin's face, causing the human to cry out and shiver at the sudden chill that went through him. The Gengar chuckled and rubbed his stomach dramatically, savoring the taste of the human's soul while the Scyther and Makuhita gave each other knowing looks. Kevin looked back at Jerry, mouthing out 'Help me.'

Jerry weighed his odds. That Scyther looked like it would be the most dangerous out of the group, with the portly Makuhita being a close second. The Gengar was a ghost type, but they were more well known for their pranks and mischievousness rather than their fighting ability. Still, he couldn't rule out that monster's tongue, which he had heard many frightening stories about as a child. As for the Breloom...well, for some reason the Machamp felt like he wouldn't be a problem. But he needed to get closer to them before he made any sort of move.

"Don't mean to intrude and all..." Jerry lied, "...but you mind if I...'talk' with him?" Jerry said, taking another step forward and trying to look as threatening as possible. Kevin's hopeful expression crumbled into one of fear. The Gengar, on the other hand, was absolutely delighted.

"Heck yeah! Go ahead, we have room for one more." he said, looking around at the rest of the group. The Scyther and Makuhita nodded vigorously, while the Breloom crossed his arms and let out a sigh.

"You alright Loomy?" Gengar said, as he pulled Kevin up to his feet by his hair; Jerry bristled with contained rage. "You've been rather quiet since we got here."

"I'm just...can we get this over with already? I have better things to do than bully a kid around." the Breloom said. The Scyther and Makuhita looked at Breloom in surprise, then looked back at Gengar nervously. The ghost, who had been licking Kevin's face again, paused mid-lick. "Auh yu kihhing meh?" he said, before closing his mouth and dragging Kevin over to the grass Pokemon. "Here we are with a human, and you wanna just let him go?"

"That's n-not what I s-said..." Breloom stuttered, a sweat drop going down his face.

"I didn't think so." Gengar said. Jerry moved a few more steps towards the group. He was only a few feet away...then he stopped as the Gengar shoved Kevin in front of Breloom. "Here, hit him."

"W-what?" the grass-type asked.

"You heard me." the ghost replied.

Breloom gulped, then raised a stubby paw. He eyed Kevin's scared face, mirroring his own. He looked over at Jerry, who shook his head and silently punched a fist into his hand while looking at the other three Pokemon. Breloom eyes widened as he got the message, and looked back at Gengar with a serious expression.

"I'm not hitting him." the Breloom stated, lowering his paw.

"Come again?" the Gengar said, raising an eyebrow as his smile faltered yet again. Kevin appeared slightly grateful, while the Scyther and Makuhita hardly dared to breathe.

"You heard me." Breloom responded, mocking the Gengar's voice. Both the Scyther and Makuhita gasped, while Jerry moved behind them. He was right where he wanted to be, now he just needed to get Kevin away from that ghost.

Gengar's smile had completely disappeared. He let go of Kevin and flew down in front of Breloom, who yelped as the ghost picked him up and slammed him against the wall. "You a sympathizer now?!" Gengar boomed, his wide red eyes focused on the now scared Breloom. But the grass-type didn't answer, and earned another slam against the wall for it. "Well, are you?!" the Gengar boomed again.

"N-no..." Breloom whimpered.

"Good." Gengar said smoothly.

Jerry locked eyes with Kevin, who was picking himself up off the ground, and winked. Kevin was confused at first, but then he realized what the Machamp meant, and began running down the alley. The other 4 Pokemon all turned to face him.

"HEY! Get back here, we're not done with you!" Gengar yelled, letting the Breloom drop to the floor.

"Yeah, you are." Jerry said. Then he grabbed the Scyther and Makuhita by their skulls, ignoring their cries of protest, and threw them across the alley. Both of them landed with a crash against the opposite wall.

"What the-?" the Gengar said, turning just in time to receive a punch to the face. A loud splat sounded out as his body impacted against the wall, spreading like silly putty across it.

"Hey, leave my friends alone!" the Breloom suddenly cried. Jerry gave him a look of disbelief, but then he suddenly felt sharp something cut across his back. He cried out in pain and whipped around, laying eyes on the Scyther, which was smiling and raising one of its arm scythes for another attack. Jerry was surprised that the bug had managed to recover as quickly as it did, but he didn't have much time to ponder this as the Scyther charged forward and swung its scythe at the Machamp. Jerry sidestepped the swing, but then the Scyther quickly caught itself and brought the scythe back towards him. Jerry barely saw it in time, and stepped back, feeling the razor just barely miss his face, the tip of it scratching across his cheek.

Jerry growled and ran towards the Scyther, grabbing his scythe arms with his back hands and pushing him up against the wall. His other two front hands became fists, then began alternately punching the insect, which struggled to break free of the Machamp's hold. Jerry's grip was firm, however, and after knocking the air out of his opponent with a punch to the gut, he grabbed the Scyther and prepared to throw him again, lifting him above his head...before dropping him as the Makuhita tackled him with all its might.

Jerry was forced a few steps back, but managed to keep his footing. He stared down at the Makuhita, which clung to his chest and smiled nervously back at him. The Machamp grabbed the smaller Pokemon by the small knot on its head, and punched a fist into its stomach, but his hold prevented it from flying off. It swung back towards Jerry, who punched it again, this time letting go of it. The Makuhita flew across the alleyway, crying out the whole way before landing in a trash can.

It was at that moment that the Scyther picked itself up off the ground, although it appeared to be a little woozy. Shaking its head, the insect scowled and it's wings buzzed, lifting itself up off the ground before zooming towards Jerry, slicing it's blades frantically in front of itself. The Machamp backed away quickly, trying to avoid the Scyther's attack, but he could only move so fast, and those blades were getting closer. In desperation, Jerry lunged forward, one of his hands reaching out and grabbing the Scyther by the neck. He ignored the cutting blade, and with a angry cry, he turned and slammed the bug into the wall, knocking it unconscious before letting the bug crumple to the ground in a heap.

"Scyther!" Breloom suddenly yelled, rushing over to said pokemon's side. He looked up at Jerry, who was busy inspecting the few streaks of red that now adorned his blue body. "You killed him!"

Jerry rolled his eyes. "Relax, he's not dead, just unconscious. And if he's gonna be waving those blades at me, he was asking to get his ass kicked."

"Indeed." a voice said, and Jerry turned around to see the Gengar smirking at him, still stuck to the wall. A hand formed out of the flat purple substance and peeled the ghost from the wall, whipping it back into form. "That was impressive. Can't wait for round two." he said, his hands behind his head as he hovered in midair.

Jerry was confused at the Gengar's words, when suddenly a flash of light from behind him illuminated the alley. He turned around just in time to see the Makuhita finish evolving into its much larger and muscular form; a Hariyama. For a moment, it just stood there, examining its newfound body with childlike glee, before looking up at Jerry with a dangerous expression.

"Crap." Jerry muttered to himself, watching as the Hariyama ran towards him, picking up momentum and speed while raising a palm to attack. He braced himself with all four of his hands stretched out in front of him, before what felt like a ton of rock hard muscle slammed into him. He skidded backwards, his heels digging into the pavement, burning with friction. Grabbing the Hariyama's hand with his two left hands, he pulled it past him and slammed his other two fists into its face. However, in his hurry to counter, he had completely ignored the Hariyama's other hand, which simultaneously struck with an open palm into his chest.

Both Pokemon stumbled back from one another. The Hariyama's rubbed a hand down its aching face, glaring at the Machamp, while the latter thumped his chest and cracked his knuckles,

"Yeah, Maku-I mean Hariyama! Kick his ass!" the Gengar yelled behind Jerry, dancing in midair with two pompoms under a banner that read 'Go Hariyama!'.

"Be careful." Breloom called out, although whether it was to Machamp or his friend, no one could tell. Jerry nodded anyways, then sprinted towards his opponent, who did the same. All of Jerry's hands were clenched into fists as he ran towards the Hariyama, and the other broke into a shoulder dash. The distance between the two decreased quickly, and with a hard clash, Jerry suddenly found himself being carried over the Hariyama's shoulder, before having the air knocked out of him when the Sumo Pokemon slammed him into the wall. Before he had a chance to recover, the Hariyama began wailing on Jerry repeatedly. The Machamp brought his hands up to defend himself, using two arms each to block the larger pokemon's blows. Every hit was like a boulder impacting against his arms, but Jerry held fast.

The suddenly, the Hariyama grabbed one of Jerry's arms and pulled hard. The Machamp was forced to move forward, or risk getting his arm pulled out of its socket. He was rewarded with a direct blow to his chest with the Hariyama's open palm. Jerry gritted his teeth in pain, and looked up in anger at the Hariyama, whose eyes widened as Jerry swung a fist towards it. It dodged the attack, letting go of the blue pokemon in the process, who backed away a few feet, holding his stomach as he caught his breath.

"Come on Hariyama, get in there!" the Gengar yelled, throwing down the score cards he had raised when his friend had scored a direct hit in Jerry. "What are you, a Breloom?!"

"Hey!" Breloom cried out, who had been dragging the unconscious Scyther to a safer distance while the fight went on.

Jerry took a breath and stood up straight, feeling a little winded. The Hariyama looked just as uncomfortable as him, the way it was panting. The Machamp hadn't fought in quite a long time, and the Hariyama was still inexperienced despite it's larger form.

Suddenly, a wet, chilling sensation went up Jerry's back. He cried out and swiped behind him, his fist going through the Gengar, which had its tongue out, having licked his back. Jerry could already feel his muscles numbing, and he desperately shook himself, trying to keep himself from becoming paralyzed.

"He's all yours, Hariyama! Don't say I never do anything for you!" the Gengar laughed. The former nodded, and Jerry watched nervously as it charged at him. He fought to keep his arms up, preparing for a beating...then a flash of red light filled the alley, and the Hariyama was gone. A Poke ball fell to the floor and rolled in front of the Machamp, who looked down at it in surprise. The ball shook a little, the button blinking a few times before a loud click sounded out through the alley, echoing off the walls.

"Where the hell did that come from?" the Gengar said, his smile gone and sounding genuinely scared. Jerry was about ready to ask himself that very question, until he heard a sniffling sound behind him. Breloom, Gengar, and Jerry all turned around to lay eyes on Kevin, who was shaking nervously and staring at the Poke ball he had thrown.

"Well, I'm outta here!" Gengar said, phasing through the alley wall. Breloom looked back and forth between Jerry, Kevin and the Poke ball, but said nothing.

"Kevin..." Jerry said. The boy looked up at him, as though he was surprised to see him there. "...did you do that?"

Kevin hesitated, then squeaked out, "Yes."

For a moment, nothing happened. Then Jerry approached Kevin and knelt down in front of him. "Listen, we gotta get out of here, or else you're gonna be in serious trouble." he said, grabbing Kevin by the hand. The boy tripped over his own feet in the Pokemon's rush to get him out of there, but Jerry simply picked up the young lightweight human and ran off down the alley with the latter in his arms.

The Breloom stood up, picked up the Poke ball, stared at it for a minute...then tossed it over his shoulder into the trash can. "With friends like these..." he muttered to himself, leaving the unconscious Scyther, the Poke ball, and the events that had occurred in the alley behind him as he headed home.

...

Between searching for Kevin, the fight in the alley, and running back to his car with the human in his arms, Jerry had never felt so tired in his life. It seemed like every muscle in his body was sore, and his lungs burned inside his chest. He wiped the sweat from his brow, taking a deep breath to calm himself before going back to running down the street. He saw the Pidgeot again with her child, who visibly perked up when he ran below the streetlight they were perched on. He gave her a small wave of acknowledgment, but otherwise did nothing else as he rushed to his car.

As for Kevin, he had been silent ever since they had left the alley, just curled up bridal style in the Machamp's strong arms. Even when Jerry opened his car door and placed him in the backseat, he had yet to say a word.

Jerry closed the door, then rushed to the driver's seat, turning on the car and speeding out of the lot.

"Hey Jerry?" he heard Kevin say behind him. Jerry closed his eyes for a moment, trying to pretend he hadn't heard the kid. He really wasn't in the mood to talk.

"Jerry?" Kevin asked again a moment later.

The Machamp let out a small sigh of resignation as he looked up into his rear-view mirror to meet the kid's eyes. "What is it sport?"

"I just wanted to say I'm sorry." Kevin said, looking down at his lap guiltily.

Jerry took a breath; he had thought that something like this would come up. "You don't have to be sorry for anything, Kevin. When I took you off that bus, you became my responsibility, so anything that happened to you after that is my fault." he said. "If anything, I should be the one that's apologizing here, not you."

Kevin shuffled his feet a bit. "I guess." he said, before going quiet again. For a while, Jerry just focused on getting out of the city, taking care to avoid as much traffic as possible. While he wanted to get Kevin back home as quickly as possible, he also didn't want to catch unwanted attention. Side streets were smaller, and-

Suddenly, a siren sounded off behind him. Jerry's looked behind him and saw a dark blue and white car with flashing lights...the last thing Jerry wanted to see.

"Put your head down, Kevin!" Jerry said frantically. Kevin did so, but the car continued to follow Jerry. Jerry held his breath and pulled over...and then the police car drove right by him, speeding off somewhere else.

Jerry let out the breath he had been holding, and leaned back in his chair, letting go of his steering wheel, which now had finger marks pressing into it from how hard he had gripped it. He ran his front hands down his face, his back hands gripping his headrest.

"That was close." Kevin said, sitting back up in his seat. "Yeah." Jerry said. It was all he could think to say. He took a deep breath before starting his car up again, his heart still beating hard in his chest.

...

"Thanks for helping me back there." Kevin said after they had finally driven out of the city.

"You're wel-what the hell?" Jerry said, suddenly exclaiming loudly as he rounded the corner.

"What? What is it?" Kevin said. Then he saw the smoke, along with a few water Pokemon shooting water at the burning building it was coming from, and his jaw dropped. Jerry slowed down, staring wide-eyed at the building that he had dropped all those kids off earlier...the same one that Kevin would have been in had he not taken him...

Jerry sped off down the road, questions swirling in his thoughts. What could have done that? How had the entire building gone up in flames? Who would do such a thing? And most importantly, the one that haunted Jerry most of all, why?

...

It was barely noon when Jerry pulled up in front of Kevin's house, but to the Machamp, it felt like an entire day had already passed. Considering that this morning, he had only been a bus driver taking a few kids to get their jobs assigned to them, it had been a busier day than usual. He looked around at the run-down suburb, with dying grass on the lawns, and plenty of pot holes in the street.

"Kevin." Jerry said.

"Yeah?"

"I'd prefer it if you not mention what happened in the alley. I don't need your parents getting overly worried about you."

"It's just my mom."

"I'm sorry?" Jerry asked, confused at this.

"My mom...you had said 'parents', and it's just her and I." Kevin said, a little embarrassed now that he had even corrected the Machamp, while the latter felt a pang of sympathy go through him for the boy. "Don't worry, I won't tell her."

Jerry nodded, then got out of his car and went around, opening Kevin's door. They both walked up to Kevin's house, Jerry taking a breath as he followed behind Kevin. He was nervous at having to meet an adult human mother, who he had no idea of how she would react to him, a Pokemon, taking care of her son. He could only hope it would go smoothly.

Then, to his surprise, the door to the house opened, and a lanky woman with messy brown hair came running out across the lawn, bending down and wrapping her arms around Kevin. Kevin was just as surprised as Jerry, but he nonetheless returned the hug, happy to see her.

"Oh Kevin, you're safe." she said. "Are you alright? You're not hurt are you?"

"Uh...no." Kevin said, sorta confused at this question. "I'm fine."

The woman opened her mouth to say something, but then laid eyes on Jerry, and she froze, apparently having not noticed him until just then.

"Mom, it's alright, he's a friend." Kevin quickly explained. "He gave me a ride here."

"What? Why? They didn't send you all by yourself after all that, did they? Because so help me..." she said, growing increasingly agitated.

"Lady, it's alright." Jerry said. "The bus broke down, and Kevin here needed a ride home. I'm actually the driver."

"Oh...ok then. Was that damaged in the explosion too?" she said, brushing her unkempt hair back with a hand.

"No, it just...wait, did you say explosion?" Jerry said, doing a double take. Kevin did as well.

"Didn't you see? It's all over the news. It's all I can think about." she said. "Someone blew up the recruitment building."

Both Kevin and Jerry's jaws dropped, then they looked at each other, remembering when they had passed by the building only moments ago.

...

"You can see the flames behind me being put out by local authorities." the Pokemon reporter said on a old-fashioned TV. "The recruitment center was attacked by an as yet unidentified human, and many Pokemon of the local Ministry were injured in the explosion, with one in critical condition. Thankfully, none of human children have been reported to have been harmed."

"Oh thank Arceus." Kevin's mother said, clutching her son a little harder in her arms. She sat holding him on the small couch in the living room while Kevin himself stayed quiet, looking almost traumatized by the report. Jerry stood inside the kitchen, shaking his head at he was hearing from the TV. Then he looked back around at the house he had been invited into, quietly feeling sorry for the two occupants. Even his small apartment was larger than the house, and much better taken care of. The temperature inside was colder than the outside, and Jerry wondered how the woman could bear to wear the clothes she had. Even Kevin's clothes seemed much better cared for than the torn jeans and simple t-shirt she wore. It was almost like she treated her son's clothes with better care than her own. Then again, considering the poor state the house was in, with its torn wallpaper and rather dim lighting, perhaps she could only do so much to improve what was an overall depressing place to live in...at least in Jerry's opinion.

As soon as the news report was finished, Kevin's mom got up from the couch and switched off the television.

"Alright Kevin, head to your room." she said, and Jerry frowned, noticing on the old-fashioned hand clock hanging on the wall that it was only three o' clock. He wondered why the woman was sending her child to bed so early when suddenly it occurred to him that he probably wanted to speak with him...alone.

Jerry watched as Kevin got up and walked towards the hallway in the corner of the living room. He shot a grateful smile towards Jerry before heading into his room, closing the door. Kevin's mom turned to the Machamp and walked towards him, arms crossed and eyes facing towards the floor. Her pursed lips and slight shaking gave away her nervousness, but eventually, she took a breath and spoke.

"Thank you." she said. There was a pause as before Jerry realized she was waiting for him to respond.

"Oh, um, no need to thank me...er..." he mumbled, trying to find the right words to say. He shook his head to clear his thoughts,, then continued. "You're very much welcome, Mrs...Mrs..."

"Amanda." Kevin's mom interrupted. "It's Amanda."

"Well...Amanda. I'm just glad your son is safe now. At least he won't have to worry about his future job for now." Jerry said, attempting to lighten the mood. He kicked himself as Amanda's shoulder's slumped visibly, and he tried to recover.

"I think he's a fine kid." Jerry said, reaching a hand up to place on her shoulder. When the woman flinched at his action, Jerry stopped and brought it back down, only feeling more embarrassed.

"I...I guess I'll just see myself out then." Jerry said. Amanda nodded, looking a little ashamed of herself for reacting the way she had to his attempt to comfort her, but Jerry understood. Of course she would be nervous around Pokemon since the Revolution; from what Kevin had told him, she had lost a husband to him. At that thought, Jerry glanced down at her hands, but didn't see a ring anywhere. He looked back up at her, nodded, then headed towards the door, Amanda standing there with a relieved, yet sad expression.

For the both of them, they figured it could have gone worse.

...

Jerry opened his car door and sat inside, letting out a breath and wiping a hand down his face as he leaned back into the cushion. It had been a rough morning, and he was exhausted, as well as feeling sick to his stomach over the poor living conditions Kevin and his mother had to deal with. It wasn't until he had already strapped in and started his car to get away from it all that he noticed it; a piece of paper laying in the seat next to him. It looked like...a human child's report?

Jerry picked up the paper and held it out in front of him. It was Kevin's report, the one he had lost on the bus. But how had it gotten here? Then he noticed some black ink seeping through the paper and turned it around, seeing some writing in black marker.

"Great fight! You were trained well. Wish more of them were like you. Take care, only getting worse for awhile from here on out." it read. "Wish me luck - Daniel."

Jerry stared at a the note in disbelief, then turned to look back towards Kevin's house. He read the words again, then shook his head in confusion. He looked down at the report, smiling when he saw that Kevin's overall grades were above average across the board. It actually reminded him a lot of...someone else...

The Machamp's face fell, and he brought up a hand to wipe away the tears that he hadn't noticed had started running down his face. Sighing, he brought his head down and rested it on the steering wheel, eyes closed and fists clenched tight. For several moments, he did nothing except to simply lay there and think to himself about everything that had occurred today. Despite a few rough patches, such as Vanillish and that gang of street Pokemon, his time with Kevin had been the most exciting thing to happen to him in the past seven years, going from job to job, eventually ending up transporting human kids to be judged by these arbitrary grades. No matter how offended he may have felt when Kevin had accidentally insulted Nido, Jerry knew that the Nidoking wasn't as great as others made him out to be.

His mind made up, Jerry picked himself up off the steering wheel with a look of determination set on his face. He turned and opened the compartment of his car, searching and for a moment before finding it. The Machamp smiled, looking down at the old headband he used to wear as a Machoke when he still had a trainer. It was a simple black headband, a little too small for him now, but he got around this by wrapping it around his bicep. Making sure that it fit snugly, Jerry then grabbed Kevin's report, smoothed it out, and unbuckled himself from his seat.

He suddenly stopped, taking a deep breath and exhaling quickly.

"Might as well do this now." he said to himself. With that, Jerry quickly got out of his car, slammed the door shut, and walked briskly up to the door, never noticing that there was a figure in the backseat watching him intently, and grinning widely as the Machamp knocked on the door. And as the figure nodded to itself in approval, it noticed a certain boy poking his head out of the house's curtains, watching the Machamp with the excitement only an 11-year-old could feel.

**Disclaimer: This is a sequel to A New Era, a fantastic story written by Organ Man. Permission was given by the author to write this. Reviews are welcome and appreciated.**


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